The little black dog seemed to bite harder and harder, sticking close to Zhao Qingyun's trouser leg and scratching at his shoes with its paws.

Zhao Qingyun grabbed the black dog by the scruff of its neck, tossed it aside, and then tried to pull Xu Lai's hand. Her expression was complicated. "Wait, you haven't washed your hands yet, don't touch me."

She turned and went into the kitchen. Zhao Qingyun turned around and looked at Xiao Hei, who had just been thrown out, and said, "Well, I'm being disliked too. It's all your fault."

Xu Lai took out the mung bean paste from the refrigerator; it was already frozen solid. She took out five sticks, gave two to her grandparents, ate one herself, and sent the other two to the neighbor.

Zhao Qingyun was washing rice when she saw her arrive. She snorted, "Didn't you dislike me? Why did you come here?"

Xu Lai walked right past him and went into the main room, leaving behind the words, "Who came looking for you? I'm looking for Grandma Jiang."

Zhao Qingyun was amused by her and shook his head helplessly.

He started cooking the rice, then wiped his hands with a tissue before going to the main room.

The old lady was eating a mung bean ice cream when Zhao Qingyun reached out and took another one, then disassembled the ice cream mold and took a bite.

Xu Lai was halfway through eating her popsicle when she felt it was too cold and couldn't eat anymore, so she held it in her hand, intending to eat it later.

Zhao Qingyun thought she didn't want to eat anymore, so she took it directly and took a big bite.

Xu Lai was surprised, and so was Grandma Jiang. She had never seen her grandson eat other people's leftovers before; he was a severe germaphobe.

Xu Lai said with amusement, "What are you doing? I still need to eat."

Zhao Qingyun chewed for a moment, "Ah, I thought you didn't want to eat anymore."

He pushed his own piece towards me, saying, "Then you eat this one." I took a bite.

Xu Lai shook her head: "If you can eat it, then eat it all."

Grandma Jiang asked tentatively, "What's going on between you two?"

Zhao Qingyun swallowed the popsicle and said, "Grandma, let me formally introduce you to my girlfriend, Xu Lai."

Grandma Jiang was taken aback at first, then burst out laughing, "Really? You're not just trying to make me happy, are you?"

Zhao Qingyun said with a smile, "Grandma, you can't expect me to prove it to you in person, can you?"

Xu Lai was still a little embarrassed. She clenched her fingers and said, "Grandma Jiang, we are indeed together."

Grandma Jiang smiled and said, "You should start calling me Grandma now."

Xu Lai smiled and said, "Grandma."

Grandma Jiang said, "That's great. Wait here, Grandma will get you something."

Grandma Jiang returned to her room, took out a box, and said, "This is my dowry from when I was young. It's not worth much now, but it's my blessing to you all."

Xu Lai took it and opened it to see that it was a gold bracelet. She quickly closed it, stepped back, and said, "Grandma, I can't accept it."

Zhao Qingyun knew that the old lady was deliberately saying that the items were worthless and inexpensive, but she often polished her jewelry and treasured them. She was just saying that to get Xu Lai to accept what she gave her.

The two pushed each other back and forth, and he stepped in to smooth things over: "Alright, alright, keep it for now. If you ever don't like me and dump me, you can give it back to me."

Xu Lai scolded him, "Are you sick?"

Grandma also scolded him: "Serves you right for being single for over twenty years. Turns out you have a mouth. If you ask me, you might as well just poison your mouth and make yourself mute."

Xu Lai accepted it and said, "Thank you, Grandma. I will keep it safe."

She put her things in her room and then went to cook. It was the first time her grandmother had seen her stay next door for so long, and she asked curiously, "Is something going on next door today? I've seen you gone for so long."

Xu Lai confessed: "I'm with Zhao Qingyun."

Grandma was shocked: "You two, you're together?"

Grandpa was also incredulous: "When did this happen? You two haven't said much."

Xu Lai thought to herself that the balcony had become their secret hideout.

She recounted the whole story, and her grandmother smiled and said, "Starting a new relationship is great, great."

The next day, Xu Lai went to the street to buy some seeds, such as radishes and cabbages, so that she could plant them now and have leafy greens to eat in the winter.

Summer is almost over, and most of the vegetables planted in spring are already old. There are only some water spinach and amaranth left at home, and the loofah can still be harvested a few more times.

She gave the seeds to her grandfather, then went to get some straw, burned it to ashes, and put it in a winnowing basket; it would be very useful later.

Grandpa went to the field with a hoe on his back, while Xu Lai carried a load of ash with a stick.

When she arrived, her grandfather was already digging a hole. She scooped up a handful of wood ash, threw it into the hole, and then put in the seeds so that they could germinate better.

As they were working, Grandma came over carrying a bag of scallions and said, "Plant these too."

When Xu Lai opened it, she found it was full of scallions, which her grandmother had left over from last year to be used as seeds.

She saw a large patch of sweet potato vines over there. Just then, her grandmother came over and sprinkled wood ash, so she went over, turned over the vines, and picked some tender leaves to take home and stir-fry.

She remembered working with her grandparents when she was little. They would dig the ground nearby, and she would hide in the shade and play in the mud.

Sometimes when I see sweet potato vines, I pick a few, break them into sections, and hang them on my ears as earrings or around my neck as a necklace.

She picked a relatively long one, folded it, and put it around the necks of Xiao Hei and Lai Fu. They shook their heads and then went off to chase grasshoppers.

Xu Lai picked a handful of fruit, put them aside, and planned to take them with her when she went back.

Grandpa and Grandma have almost finished their work. It's a little past nine in the morning. They've watered the plants once, and they'll come back to water them again in the evening.

When she got home, she took a basin, cleaned the sweet potato vines, and could stir-fry them for lunch.

There's another special dish today, but she doesn't really like it. Grandpa, on the other hand, really loves it, saying that the meat in that piece is exceptionally tender.

She bought a pig's head today, including the ears and neck. Xu Lai didn't want to buy a whole one, but the butcher wouldn't let her sell them separately, and no one was willing to share with her, so she just bought the whole thing.

She took out the cooking utensils, plugged in the gas, and scalded the pig skin until all the pig hair was gone before stopping.

Then put it in a large basin filled with water and use a knife to scrape off the black layer.

She plans to make a cold pig ear salad and a stir-fried pig head.

Cut off the pig's ears, blanch them in boiling water with scallions, ginger, garlic, and cooking wine, then rinse them in cold water. This will make them crispier.

Then prepare the dipping sauce: chili powder, oyster sauce, light soy sauce, MSG, salt, and a pinch of vinegar. Heat oil in a pan and pour it over the sauce.

Slice the pig's ears, pour in the sauce, mix well, and Xu Lai took a bite. "Hmm, not bad."

She took off her gloves and moved the dish aside. Since dinner wasn't served yet, she couldn't bring it to the table, otherwise her grandfather would be drinking and watching TV, and most of the dish would be gone.